The Effects of Different Rootstocks on the Graft Success and Stion Development of Some Pear Cultivars

ABSTRACT In modern pear growing, quince and pear clonal rootstocks are used instead of pear seedlings. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different quince and pear rootstocks on the graft success and the stion (scion+rootstock) growth performance of some pear cultivars/genotypes. In the study, quince (Quince BA 29, Quince A and Quince MC), pear (OHxF 333, Fox 11, Farold 40) clones and pear seedlings were grafted in two standard (Deveci and Williams) and 11 local (‘Bardak,’ ‘Dalkıran,’ ‘Eşek,’ ‘İstanbul,’ ‘Kara,’ ‘Karga,’ ‘Karpuz,’ ‘Kış,’ ‘Sarıkum,’ ‘Tefenc’ and ‘Yaz Ziraati’) promising pear cultivars were used. Significant differences were observed in both rootstocks and varieties in terms of graft success and plant development in the study. The graft take, sprout and survival ratios were higher in pear rootstocks than in the quince rootstocks. While the highest graft survival ratio was observed in Fox 11, the lowest was in the BA 29 quince rootstock. The highest graft sprout and graft survival ratio were in ‘Deveci,’ the lowest in ‘Williams,’ ‘Bardak’ and ‘Kış’ varieties. While the highest shoot lengths and highest diameters were detected in the pear seedling, the lowest were in the MC rootstock. While the longest shoots were observed in ‘Kara,’ the thickest shoots were observed in ‘Eşek’ genotypes. As a result of this study, it was determined that the 13 pear cultivars/genotypes grafted on different rootstocks were sufficient in terms of graft success and stion growth performances and it was found that stion of sufficient quality could be grown in the field condition.